Puzzle



(No Model.)'

H. M. SMITH. PUZZLE.

Patented Oct. 27, 1891.

WITNESSES Wad/6Z4 IN VE N TOR.

-A TIOHNE YS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

, HERBERT M. SMITH, OF ROME, NEW YORK,

PUZZLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 462,170, dated October 27, 1891.

' Application filed March 13, 1891,- Serial No. 384,921. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

, Be it known that I, HERBERT M. SMITH, of Rome, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have invented a ne w and Improved Puzzle, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to puzzles or games in which a board is used having a series of holes in it for the reception of pegs, commonly called in such games men, that are played by jumping them, as the game of checkers is played, in prescribed lines one over the other, the men as they are jumped over being removed until only one man is left, and to solve the puzzle it is necessary that he should occupy a given hole or goal, preferably the center hole of the group of holes. As the value of such a puzzle or game, so far as the skill and ingenuity required to solve or play it is concerned, largely depends upon the general figure on the board formed by the group of holes for the'pegs and lines connecting said holes, as well as upon the number of pegs or men used, my invention comprises or consists in a special organization in these respects, whereby the puzzle is made very attractive and requires superior skill to solve it.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a plan view of my improved game or puzzle with the pegs or men in position, the latter being in section, as indicated by the line w 00 in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same, and Fig; 3 a sectional elevation of the board in part with one of the pegs inserted therein.

A indicates the board, which may be of any convenient size and shape,and has delineated or marked upon it a series of straight and diagonal lines I), b, 19 c, c, (l d, and e e, the general outline or figure formed by which is that of four triangles B, C, D, and E, three of which B O D have their sides of equal length and their apeXes at one and the same point, and which are placed in such a position relatively toward each other as that each side of any one of said triangles B O D will, if extended in the same direction, form a side of one of the other of such triangles; or, in other words, the sides of the triangles B O D,

the bases of which are the lines cl d and b, will be formed by the straight extension of the lines I) andc c that form the sides of any one of them. The fourth triangle E of the figure is formed by the lines 19 and e e, drawn from the centers of the bases or lines l) and cl d of the three firstnamed triangles B O D, the line 5 being the base of such triangle E.

The peg-holes in the board in which the pegs or men S are stuck to play the game or solve the puzzle are made where the several lines I), 1), b 0, c, d d, and e e meet or intersect only. These holes number in all sixteen, and there are fifteen pegs or men S used in the puzzle. For the purpose of illustration these peg-holes are numbered consecutively from 1 to 16, as shown, the center peg-hole in such case being numbered 8 and being at or representing the apexes of the triangles B, (J, and D. p

To play the game or puzzle the several pegs or men are separately placed in the several peg-holes, excepting the center hole 8, said holes being one more than the number of pegs, and the object or thing to be done is to separately jump a peg instraight courses over the peg standing in its way to the hole on the other side of the peg which has been passed or jumped over and afterward to-remove the latter much in the same manner as checkers are played, and so that the last peg left on the board will occupy the central hole 8 of the figure 0n the board.

To solve the puzzle as described the peg in the hole 16 is first passed or jumped over the peg in hole 13 and entered in the center hole 8 and the peg in hole 13 removed, after which the following moves are made in succession:

the peg in hole 4 passed to hole 13, removing peg in hole 8; the pegin hole 6 passed to hole 8, removing peg in hole 7; the peg in hole 9 passed to hole 7, removing peg in hole 8; the peg in hole 3 passed to hole 8, removing peg in hole 5; the peg in hole 12 passed to hole 5, removing peg in hole8; the peg in hole 10 passed tohole 16, removing peg in hole 14; the peg in hole 15 passed to hole 6, removing peg in hole 11; the peg in hole 1 passed to hole 3, removing peg in hole 2; the peg in hole 3 passed to hole 8, removing peg in hole 5; the peg in hole 13 passed to hole at, removing peg in hole 8; the peg in the hole 6 passed to hole 8, removing peg in hole 7; the peg in hole lpassed to hole 13, removing peg in hole 8, and, finally, the peg in hole 16 passed to hole 8, removing peg in hole 13. This only leaves one peg on the board, and that is in the center hole 8, which solves the puzzle. The fourth triangle E, formed on the board, not only serves to bewilder the player and render more skill necessary to solve the puzzle, but facilitates the placing of the peg-holes, as stated; or the puzzle can be solved by commencmg with any of the pegs that can be umped into the center hole at the first move and following the same regularity of jumpmg as in the manner previously described when starting with the peg in hole 16.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a puzzle of the character herein described, the board having a figure on itformed by lines which constitute or make four triangles, three of which, having their sides of equal length, have their apexes at one and the same center point and are arranged so that the sides of said three triangles will be formed by the straight extensions of the lines forming the sides of any one of them, and the fourth triangle of which figure is formed by lines drawn from the centers of the bases of a the three first triangles, said board having holes adapted to receive removable pegs where the several lines forming the several triangles meet or intersect only, substantially as specified.

2. In a puzzle of the description herein named, the board having a figure on it formed by lines which constitute or make four triangles, three of which, having their sides of equal length, have their apexes at one and the same center point and have their sides arranged so that their sides are formed by the straight extensions of the lines forming the sides of any one of them, and the fourth triangle of which figure is formed by lines drawn from the centers of the bases of the first three triangles, the whole figure having peg-holes where the several lines forming the several triangles meet and intersect, in com,- bination with a series of pegs of one less in number than said holes adapted to be transferred to fit the holes, essentially as herein shown and described.

HERBERT M. SMITH.

W itnesses:

JOHN S. PERRY, EDWIN B. SMITH. 

